A Great Thanksgiving Day Leftover Recipe

Waste not, want not! Thanksgiving isn’t just about making Thanksgiving night dinner: it’s also about the clever use of leftover turkey the day after. And here’s a good recipe for Friday and the weekend. Turkey Tetrazzini is an easy and delicious way to use turkey leftovers. Steve Wiseman from WOMC in Detroit shared this recipe with us:

“I cook from feel and not from recipes. So I’m going to give you the basics and let you take it from there. For this you’ll need:

Leftover turkey cut into bite size nuggets

A green bell pepper (or two)

Mushrooms (common button mushrooms work just fine)

A splash of dry, white wine (optional)

Linguini (I prefer linguini although you can certainly use spaghetti)

Parmesean cheese (right out of the can is fine)

Butter or oil

Prepare pasta according to package directions. You be the judge on whether you need one package or more based upon how many you’re going to be feeding. Chop up your mushrooms into bite sized pieces and sautee them in a frying pan in a little oil or butter. They’ll absorb the oil or butter like crazy at first but then give it back. Remove the mushrooms and in the same pan, sautee the bite sized pieces of bell pepper until just tender. Don’t cook them to death! Remove from pan. Then in the same pan, if it’s big enough, put some butter in it and add the chicken to warm it up. Then add the mushrooms and bell peppers. Then add the pasta and give it a good stir. Now is the time for a splash of dry, white wine. If it’s a little dry, add another nub of butter. By now everything should be nice and hot. For the final touch add the parmesean cheese to bind everything together. Add a little at first and then more until the dish has a nice, creamy, cheesy consistency. Give it a taste and add a little salt if needed and a couple of grinds of fresh, black pepper. Sometimes, depending on our mood, we add a little leftover turkey gravy or a little sour cream. A side salad and a loaf of nice French bread and you’re good to go! Enjoy!”